Harper Lee First Edition Signed Archives - Raptis Rare Books | Fine Rare and Antiquarian First Edition Books for Sale

"To my beloved Tay with all the love in my heart": First edition, association copy of To Kill A Mockingbird; inscribed by Harper Lee to her editor Tay Hohoff

To Kill A Mockingbird.

Philadelphia & New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960.

First edition, the finest association copy of one of the most important American novels of the 20th century which had an initial first printing of 5,000 copies and went on to earn Harper Lee the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to her Lippincott editor, "To my beloved Tay with all the love in my heart - Nelle." The recipient, Tay Hohoff, was a senior editor at J.B. Lippincott & Co. and was instrumental in shaping both the plot and thematic core of To Kill a Mockingbird. When Harper Lee first submitted the manuscript—then titled Go Set a Watchman—it was a promising but unrefined work: a series of loosely connected vignettes, vivid in voice but lacking a unifying narrative structure. Drawing on her extensive editorial experience, Hohoff recognized the strength of Lee’s prose and the moral resonance of her material, but also discerned that its potential would only be realized through substantial reimagining. She moved beyond technical editing to form what was, in effect, a creative partnership with Lee. Over the next two years, Hohoff guided Lee through substantive revision and reconceptualization, urging her to reshape the episodic draft into a cohesive narrative centered on ...

Price: $250,000.00 Item Number: 149590

Add to cart Ask a Question Details

First edition of Dee Alexander Brown's The Bold Cavaliers; inscribed by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Harper Lee to close personal friend and colleague Charles Weldon Carruth

BROWN, Dee Alexander. [Harper Lee].

The Bold Cavaliers: Morgan’s 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Raiders.

Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1959.

First edition of the author's Civil War classic. Octavo, original half cloth, cartographic endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee on the front free endpaper to close University of Alabama college friend, Charles Weldon Carruth, "To Charles with love, Nelle." In the fall term of 1945, Lee and Carruth both enrolled in a Shakespeare course taught by one of the University of Alabama’s most famous faculty members, Hudson Strode, who directed the school’s theatre troupe and taught several courses in theatre and creative-writing. At the University of Alabama, Lee contributed a regular column to the campus newspaper, ‘Caustic Comments for Crimson White’, as well as many articles to the university’s humor magazine, Rammer Jammer, of which she became editor in chief in 1946. Lee ultimately dropped out of college before graduation and moved to Manhattan in 1949 to pursue writing as a career; Carruth later moved to New York City as well, where he worked as a radio producer before becoming a writer and editor for the Catholic News. The two remained close friends and corresponded well into the early 1990s. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Peter Burchard.

Price: $5,000.00 Item Number: 116234

Add to cart Ask a Question Details

"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird": First Edition of the 50th Anniversary Edition of To Kill A Mockingbird; Inscribed by Harper Lee

LEE, Harper.

To Kill a Mockingbird.

New York: Harper Collins, 2010.

First edition of the 50th anniversary edition of the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Inscribed by Harper Lee on the front free endpaper, "With best wishes, Harper Lee." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Shirley Smith.

Price: $2,750.00 Item Number: 149938

Add to cart Ask a Question Details